Child&#39;s undergarment



C. E. OVENSHIRE.

CHILDS UNDERGARMENT- APPLICATION FILED on. 24. 1919.

1,347,400. Patented July 20,1920.

3 SHEElS-SHEEI I.

FIG. I

//v vz/v 7-0/2 (me/rust. firms/11R:

BYGJMWWQ c. E. OVENSHIRE.

CHILD'S UNDERGARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24 19'9- 1,347,400. Patented July 20, 1920.

3 SHEEIS-SHEEI 2.

///.s /777'0/PNE rs.

.0. E OV ENSHIRE. CHILD'S UNDERGARMENL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, l9l9.

//v vszv r01? Omaniflrmswm:

structions and comb1nat1ons hereinafter de- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHAR ES E. OVENSHIBE, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNEsoTA, ASSIGNOR To MINNEAPOLIS KNITTING WORKS, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF MINNE- SOTA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

cninn's UNDERGARMENT.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed October 24, 1919. Serial No. 333,048.

To all whom it may concern Be it'known that 1, CHARLES E. OVEN- snnm, a citizen of the United States, resident of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Childrens Undergarments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in undergarments for children, including bands or shirts for small infants, and waists and union suits for larger children.

The invention consists generally in an nndergarment/ formed of an elastic knit fabric, the body of the garment at the shoulders terminating substantially on a level-with the lower edge of the neck opening, with independent shoulder pieces, preferably formed of a double thickness of elastic knit fabric similar to that forming the body, with their ends, both at the front and back, secured to the upper edges of said body portion adjacent to said neck portion.

The invention consists further in an undergarment having the features above set to, the lower ends of the shoulder pieces, said tapes extending downwardly over the front and back of the garment and meeting at points near its lower edge.

The invention consists further In the constructure designed to carry out the objects of the invention, .but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown, as various changes may be made'within its reasonable scope.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of the body of an undergarment adapted to be used as an infants band or shirt. I

.Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a modified form of the undergarment adapted to be used as a ch1lds waist.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the same.

.Fig. 5 is a front elevation of another form similar, except for the arrangement of the tapes, to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the modified form shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a front and Fig. 8 a rear elevation of a union suit having the shirt portion constructed in accordance with this invention, and having another modified tape arrangement.

In all of the drawings, 1 represents the body of the undergarmcnt which may be in the form of an infants or babys band, or shirt, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or a waist or union suit for a larger child, as shown in the other figures of the drawings. This under garment may be made in seamless tubular form, as shown in F i s. 1 and 2, and 7 and 8 of the drawings, or it may be open at its front or back and arranged to have its edges but-ton together, as shown in Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings.

The top of the body portion of the undergarment is cut substantially straight across the tubular web from which the undergarment is formed, being hollowed out slightly at front. and back to produce a desired slight curvature at the neck and arm openings. The upper edges of the body between the neck and arm openings, at both front and rear, form the sections (or shoulder tabs as they may be called) to which the lower ends of suitable shoulder pieces 2, 2 preferably formed of at least tWo thicknesses of elastic fabric similar to that forming the body of the undergarment, are secured.

The shoulder pieces 2, 2 extend upward and over from one upper edge or shoulder tab of the body to the other at the other side of the shoulder, and the lower ends of the shoulder pieces are stitched or otherwise firmly secured to the upper edges of the body portion.

The body of the garment may be of short tubular form as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing adapting it for use as an infants band or shirt, or it may be split up the front or back, and provided with a facing 5 having buttonholes 6 engaged by buttons 7 on the opposite edge of the opening, as illustrated in Figs. 3, 1, 5 and 6 of the drawings, in which case the garment will be especially adapted as a waist for a young child; orthe garment may be of the tubular form illustrated in Figs/T and S ofxthe drawin s withthe drawers portion formed integral therewith, thereby producing a union suit. v V

I prefer toprovide in connection with this undergarment of either of they forms herein illustrated, suitable tapes or strips that are secured to the elastic fabric forming the body of the garment,

with their upper ends, contiguous to'the .lower ends of the shoulder pieces 2, 2, with their lower ends extending substantiallyto the bottom of the body portion of the garment, and provided with means for-"attaching another garment thereto.

in the form shown in Figsil and 2 of the drawing, 1 have shown the tapes 3, 3 having these tapes come together at a central point a short distance above the lower end of the garment body, at both front-and back, and

- their overlapped portionsmay extend vertically from their meeting point to the bottom of tliegarment, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Suitable tab or tape terminals 4. may be secured to the garment at or near the lower ends of the strips 3, 3 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and wherethe garment is in the form of a band for a small infant these terminals will form supports to which the infants diaper may be pinned or otherwise secured. it will be seen that the undergarments illustrated in Flgs. 3, 1, 5' and 6 are'simllar 'to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in so far as the body portions," terminating at the neck line, and the independent shoulder pieces formed of a double thickness of material, similar to the body portion, are concerned, although in Figs. 3 to 6,. as hereinbefore stated, the body portion is split vertically and is provided with buttons and button-holes for securing its edges together. In the form of undergarment shown in Figs. 3 and a, the front diagonal tapes 8 extend from the junction of the shoulder pieces 2 and the body 1 downwardly to form the tape-terminals 9, provided on each side of the front ofthe under garment. The diagonal side tapes 10 extend, from the junction of the shoulder pieces in the rear, diagonally and forwardly downward and join the tapes'8 at the side terminals 9. There is also preferably provided a pair reinforcing ofydiagonal reartapes 11 secured to the tapes 10 at the shoulder pieces and extending diagonally downward and forward to meet a central rear terminal 12. I The function of these terminals 9 and 12 is to provide means by which other articles'of clothing may be secured to the undergarment, and they may be provided, for this purpose,

with fastening means such asthe buttons hereshown.

The modified undergarment shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to that shown .in'

Figs. 3 and 4c',*b.ut with the additionof vertical front and rear tapes. in this form the vertical front tapes 13 extend from the junction of the shoulder piece 2, and the body :1, vertically downward on each side of the opening of the undergarment These are also provided with terminals. 1%. Simi- -larly,- the rear of this modified undergarn ent.isprovided with vertical tapes 15,

which extend, .from' the junction of the shoulder pieces 2 and the body 1, downwardly to terminals 16. In this modified form it is preferred to change thediagonal '5 side tapes 10, so that they are united to the vertical. rear tapes 15, at the junction of the shoulder pieces and body. Similarly, the diagonal. rear tapes'll [are joined to these vertical tapes 15, preferably at their juncture withthe side tapes 10. r

In Figs; 7 and 8 there is disclosed a union suit having my. improved construction' Herein the diagonal front tapes 1'? extend,

' from the juncture of the body 1 and shoulder pieces 2, convergingly downward to a central tapeterminal 18, to which apparel supporting means may be attached. The divergently diagonal front tapes 19, like the tapes 8 in the form shown in Figs. 3 and-4, extend,

from the junction of the shoulderpieces 2 V and the body 1, diagonally forward to tape terminals 20, which, as here shown, carry buttons The rearqof this body portion is provided with diagonal side tapes 21 which extend, from the shoulder piece junction,

forwardly and diagonally downward and are joined to the sideterminals 20. Rear convergently diagonal tapes 22 are also provided and these extend from the shoulder piece junction downward'to a central tape terminal 23. The garments shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings may,.if"preferred, be provided with vertical tapes and 15 arranged at the frontand back of the garment, as shown in Figs. 5 and 60f the drawings. j r r The advantages of this construction result not only in the production of a better garment, and one in: which the pressure over the shoulders is over a wlde surface by the independent distributed V shoulder'pieces 2, secured to the upper portions ofthe body of the garment, adjacent to the neck thereof, but there is alarge saving in the fabric required for the production of the garment. There is also a considerable saving in tape. Garments of this character are made from tubular knit fabric. Such fabric is usually formed in continuous lengths and the fabric is cut in suitable sections for the formation of the desired garment. The garment is usually constructed by cutting off a sufficient length of fabric to furnish the body and the shoulders which are integral with the body. From this it results that quite a large sized portion of the fabric must be cut out to form the neck and arm openings.

By forming the shoulder pieces separately and securing them to the body adjacent to the neck opening, I am enabled to form the garment by cutting the fabric substantially straight across. If desired, the neck and arm portions may then be slightly curved or hollowed at front and rear as shown in Fig. l and the shoulder pieces being formed separately and secured as described, all waste of fabric is eliminated. By having the strips or tapes secured to the garment as illustrated and terminating at the shoulder pieces, the weight of the suspended articlcs or garments is brought directly to the shoulder pieces. Forming the shoulder pieces of a plurality of thicknesses of the material of which the body is formed, which I prefer to do, provides a broad, soft bearing over the shoulders, permitting the weight of the supported articles or garments to be carried from the shoulders directly while distributing the pressure over the entire surface covered by the shoulder pieces.

It will be seen that these advantages result whether the garment be of any one of the forms illustrated in the drawings, or

whether it be of other form, coming within the disclosure of the invention set forth herein. I, therefore, do not limit myself to the particular construction of garment herein shown and described, as the same may be varied in many particulars without departing from my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. An undergarment comprising a body of tubular knitted fabric having spaced pairs of front and back tabs, a pair of shoulder pieces each consisting of a plurality of plies of knitted fabric and secured at each end to the respective tab by a row of stitching, a reinforcing tape extending downwardly from each tab of one pair and secured thereto and to the adjacent end of the respective shoulder piece by said stitching, said tapes having their lower ends adapted for supporting a garment whereby the weight of the latter is carried direct to the shoulder pieces by the tapes.

2. An undergarment comprising a body of tubular knitted fabric having spaced pairs of front and back shoulder tabs, a pair of separate shoulder pieces each formed of a plurality of thicknesses of knitted fabric, secured at their ends transversely across the respective shoulder tabs, and reinforcing tapes having their upper ends connected to and terminating at the ends of said shoulder pieces, whereby the latter only extend over the shoulders, said tapes extending downward over the body of the garment and having their lower ends adapted for supporting a garment.

1 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of October 1919.

CHARLES E. OVEN SHIRE. 

